


Denial And Acceptance

by ThatScottishShipper



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Acceptance, Adam-Centric, Angst and Feels, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Denial, Grief/Mourning, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Keith (Voltron) is a Mess, Kerberos Mission, Loss, Love, M/M, One-Sided Attraction, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pre-Kerberos Mission, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-21
Updated: 2018-10-21
Packaged: 2019-08-05 08:15:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16364189
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatScottishShipper/pseuds/ThatScottishShipper
Summary: Adam's thoughts before and after that dreaded Pilot Error message, losing Shiro and then eventually Keith to the fallout.*Voltron S7 Spoilers*





	Denial And Acceptance

Adam knew something like this was bound to happen.

As soon as Takashi Shirogane expressed his desire to take on the Kerberos Mission, there had always been those worries lingering in the back of his mind. Terrible nightmarish illusions of harm befalling the man he loved, growing more vivid and lifelike with every passing day.  Adam knew that the worst could happen. That was why he fought and pleaded for Shiro to stay, to understand his limitations and realise he had nothing to prove anymore.

_ His _ Shiro always was the best in his eyes.

 

Their last verbal clash was the hardest to stomach because that was when Adam, stressing over Shiro’s safety after countless arguments about it, laid down his final ultimatum.

_ Choose me or the mission _ .

The unspoken sentiment, he prayed, was crystal clear to Takashi, to someone whose health deteriorated before his eyes.

_ Stay, Takashi. _

_ Stay with me, so I can take care of you. _

However, Shiro - as stubborn as he was beautiful - chose the galaxy, wanting to reach beyond the limits of his physical body to attain his dreams. With a broken heart, Adam closed the door behind him, and his future fiance, unaware of Shiro’s own motivations for putting his foot down.

  
  


That Pilot Error only confirmed what Adam long suspected might happen one day, but that did little to console the emptiness his heart. Shiro was gone, lost to the stars he sought with childlike wonder.

The irony was more than he could take.

Every once in awhile, Adam came across Keith, Shiro’s promising student, and it was obvious that he struggled with the news of Shiro’s disappearance as much as he did. Adam at least accepted Shiro was gone, as painful as it was, but Keith seemed stuck in denial.

The ‘wild child,’ as the Garrison called him, became even more withdrawn and if he wasn’t solemn, he ranted at anyone who dared believe Shiro could ever fall victim to a Pilot Error.

 

The first night, Adam awakened to the sound of a hard fist pounding his door only to find the orphan that had come to be an important part of Shiro’s life standing there. A hard glare barely holding back tears, puffy red cheeks and a defiant stance before either of them had spoken.

And then the shouting started.

_ Shiro wasn’t dead, he couldn’t be. He was still out there, he had to be. Shiro was too much of a legend to go out like that - _

Adam sighed. As legendary as Shiro was, he was still mortal at the end of the day. A man that was seriously ill, something he believed this idolising child simply could not understand.

The weary lecturer sat Keith down on the couch, offering him a hot drink and trying to explain to the best of his sympathetic ability that Shiro was gone, that tragically his illness might have contributed to their fate. After all, his muscles had been weakening for some time, and even heroes had their limits when in the pilot’s seat.

Every word was a dagger to his own heart as he affirmed over and over again to this mourning child that the man they both loved and respected was truly just a memory now. It took everything he had not to start screaming at the injustice himself.

The final crack in his facade had been Keith’s words, carelessly thrown out from a place of hurt.

 

_ “Don’t you love him?” _

 

_ Oh _ , how his heart had fractured into countless tiny pieces at those words. Adam tried to reassure himself it was the words of a hurting child, that he was mourning Shiro too, he was lashing out, but that did little to cushion the impact of those dagger like words.

Of course Adam loved Shiro. He  _ still _ loved him. That had been why he tried to convince him to stay, so he wouldn’t be in danger. It was all to avoid a nightmare from becoming a reality, and it had.

  
  


Keith still refused to believe in the truth. In the end, Adam was unable to save Keith from his own heart, watching helplessly as the troubled boy eventually got himself rejected from the Garrison, unable to accept the truth in front of him.

That Shiro, _ their  _ Shiro, was gone.

Though Adam and Keith had their squabbles in the past when it came to Shiro, truthfully, losing Keith had also been hard on him. It was as if he lost the last part of his happy life, something else that connected him to Shiro.

  
  


Even as Adam soared to the skies for the very last time, he never forgot Shiro and that smiling face.

And that maybe, just maybe, somewhere out there, Keith’s heart slowly began to heal.

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. This story wrecked me. Ever since watching Voltron S7e1 for the first time, I always wanted to write a little piece like this. The confrontation scene between Shiro and Adam before the mission is such a powerful moment, and you had to wonder what it must have been like for Adam having his worst fears confirmed by the Pilot Error.
> 
> I also wanted to explore a little dynamic with Adam and Keith given they both admired Shiro. I hope the scene between those two didn't come across as too selfish on either character's behalf, as I wanted to touch on the raw emotions they would have felt at that time since they were both lost and hurt. I also really wanted to mention that even if they bickered over Shiro, they still cared, especially with Adam's thoughts about losing Keith and hoping he found peace in his life.
> 
> Shiro's "other reason" for leaving on the Kerberos Mission is obviously because he loves Adam and doesn't want him to watch him deteriorate before his eyes, so it's so he's sort of giving the man he loves a future.
> 
> WHY DIDN'T THESE DORKS JUST TALK IT OUT PROPERLY?
> 
> I dedicate this to all the Voltron Adam fans who always wanted a little more of Adam. It's obviously not canon or anything, but I hope it gives you a little something.
> 
> Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoyed it. <3


End file.
